Talk:Kzinti Flyer
Rename I have received confirmation from GSchnitzer that in the final draft script of "The Slaver Weapon" (dated 7-23-73), this character's name is consistently rendered as Flyer. I propose renaming this article to reflect that.--Side Rat (talk) 01:51, August 31, 2016 (UTC) Sorting out the Kzinti characters based on script(s) As there are 4 Kzinti in the episode, what's the other, or rather, last one named?--Alan del Beccio (talk) 01:54, August 31, 2016 (UTC) :I am seeking further clarification on that point, and some others, and will report back. I am also reviewing the episode again. It seems there are in fact five Kzinti, with Telepath not being among the four who ambush the Copernicus crew at the outset. They all have distinct facial features, with differently shaped dark patterns around their eyes. (And at the end, when the weapon self destructs, there were four Kzinti outside the ship and one inside. I think the latter was Telepath, but will re-check to be sure.) GSchnitzer relays that in the first draft, one of the other Kzinti is named Navigator. In the final draft, the two besides Chuft-Captain, Flyer, and Telepath are only referred to as "Fourth Kzin" and "Fifth Kzin". There seem to have been some changes made from the first draft to the final draft to the aired episode as to which individual did what in which scene. I need to ask him some additional questions in order to determine who is who and correlate the info to what's seen in the episode. More to come on this as I sort it out.--Side Rat (talk) 02:59, August 31, 2016 (UTC) :Correction to the above: Telepath was outside the ship in the final scene.--Side Rat (talk) 04:36, August 31, 2016 (UTC) ... :Sorry for the delay in this comment relative to my editing of the article; my computer crashed just as I was about to post it, and I had to re-type the whole thing. (Sorry also for clogging up the talk page with so many comments!) Ok, so... *We had misidentified the the wrong Kzin as Flyer. He is the one who has the most direct interaction with Chuft-Captain (and appears to be second-in-command, hence him being sometimes referred to as "Second Kzin" in the first draft of the script; but as this is not explicitly established in the episode, I have only included it in the background info). He is the one who works the machinery to open the stasis box, advises Chuft on the operation and functions of the weapon, helps Chuft to the ship after he is wounded by Spock, etc. *'Fourth Kzin' is the one with the star-shaped facial markings (who was up to now pictured in this article). He is the one who initially picks up Telepath when his suit is ruptured and reports this fact. Then both he and Flyer take Telepath back to the ship, which is why when Flyer returns to Chuft he reports: "We reached the ship in time to save him." *'Fifth Kzin' is the one we hear calling over comms from the ship to report that the meat has been tested and is poisonous. He may or may not be the one in the initial ambush scene with Chuft, Flyer, and Fourth. I suggest we hold off on that specific identification for the moment until GSchnitzer makes both drafts of the script available for closer inspection in their entirety, which he indicates to me he intends to do soon. Here's why: apparently, both drafts specify that there are actually six Kzinti on board altogether. They refer to "half a dozen Kzinti" in the initial ambush, and "a table big enough to seat six Kzinti" on the Claw. *In the aired episode, we never see more than four Kzinti together in one scene/shot, no doubt due to time and budget restraints on the animators. However, the suggestion that there may be a sixth remains in that when Fifth reports about the meat (with Flyer, Fourth, Chuft, and Telepath all being present in the scene on the surface) he says "We have finished testing" it. :Also, at the end, when those same four go out and the weapon self-destructs, there is an oddity that I had hereto always regarded as an animation error, but in light of this information may just possibly not be an error at all: in the shot inside the ship immediately before the explosion, Spock is facing a Kzin with his space helmet on. In the shot immediately after the explosion, a Kzin is seen lying apparently dead with no helmet on (hence dying when the compartment vented, whereas Spock/Sulu/Uhura activated their lifebelts). Although this is a bit speculative at this point, it seems to me that the Kzin with his helmet on may have been standing right in front of the wall that was breached, and got sucked out or vaporized in the explosion, and the one who we see lying dead may be a different Kzin. If this is the case, then we can't tell which of the two is Fifth and which is the unnamed sixth. We also can't tell if either of them is supposed to be Navigator from the first draft, whose only specified role therein was as the Kzin whose suit gets ruptured during the earlier testing scenes (a role transferred to Telepath in the final draft, in which Navigator is never mentioned). And we also can't tell which is the one other than Chuft, Flyer, and Fourth seen in the intial ambush in the aired episode. :Bit confusing, eh? (Matters are not helped any by the fact that there are a number of slight inconsistencies in the way the facial markings of various Kzinti are drawn in certain shots relative to others.) I expect we'll hash out some or all of this through discussion once we've all had a chance to examine the scripts in full. At present, we can conclusively identify Flyer and Fourth by their dialogue, though.--Side Rat (talk) 08:55, September 2, 2016 (UTC)